The subject invention relates to a Land Grid Array (LGA) socket and more particularly to a high density socket with precise alignment to an electrical component.
Various packages or devices exist within the computer industry which require interconnection to a printed circuit board. These devices have lands or balls which are placed on 1.0-mm centerline spacing and below. These devices are profiled with arrays of 50 by 50 and even greater. Given the plurality of lands, their centerline spacing, and given the force applied to each land, this device causes a variety of problems in practice in connection to the printed circuit board.
Sockets exist within the market for the interconnection of such devices, where the sockets include columns of conductive polymer allowing the interconnection between the devices and the printed circuit boards. However, these devices too can cause some problems. For example, the conductive polymers can creep over time, and after temperature exposure and thermal cycling. Therefore, its elasticity is reduced, and the normal force, which is applied to the contact interface, is also reduced.
Moreover, as the density of these sockets and interconnects increases, the complexity of maintaining alignment also increases. Many connector sockets attempt to align the contacts with the interconnected components through the housing. As the housings are molded plastic, the tolerance can be such that, the alignment of the contacts is skewed due to the high tolerance of the housing.
These and other problems are addressed by the present invention.